During the production of compressed products from pledgets, it is often required to form the product under sustained high pressure, while exposing the pledget to thermal molding conditions. However, certain characteristics of the compressed products such as expansion properties and/or aesthetics can be affected by such high degrees of molding force and thermal treatments. Thus, known manufacturing processes may compromise between certain performance characteristics that can be achieved in the products, or portions thereof.
Therefore, a technique that is capable of providing a stable product, with improved properties, such as, for example, higher degrees of expansion may be desirable. Further, a technique that provides a stable product with a high surface finish quality may also be desirable.